thanks so much for watching. and remember -- you can't take it with you. >> after years of scouring the ocean floor, a treasure hunter with a simple motto... >> today is the day. >> today is the day. >> today is the day. >> ...hits the mother lode. >> ...a shipwreck, which had 40 tons of gold and silver and copper on board. >> when his heirs cash in, collectors grab a piece of the action. >> a gold chalice. $100,000 to open the bid. >> but this treasure hunt is far from over. >> is it true that there's a 40-pound bag of emeralds down there? >> it's 70 pounds of emeralds. >> could you look harder?

i'm jamie colby, and, today, i'm driving into key west, florida, in search of treasure. you know, years ago, spanish galleons and pirate ships sailed upon and sank in these waters. more recently, the island's been home to the heirs of a man who became rich and famous searching for the treasure left behind. >> my name is taffi fisher abt, and i inherited a wreck. i mean literally a wreck, a spanish shipwreck. it's an incredible archeological find, and we keep bringing up more treasure all the time. >> you must be taffi. >> welcome to the mel fisher maritime heritage society. >> taffi's father, mel fisher, salvaged tons of treasure from the sea. oh, yeah. solid gold. >> this is an emerald cross and ring that was found in 1982. >> some of his most precious

artifacts are in the museum he founded here in key west. he must have loved the adventure. >> he did. he was an awful lot like tom sawyer. >> tom sawyer had the mississippi. indiana native mel fisher dreams up his childhood adventures on lake michigan. >> he would go to the lake, and he made a dive helmet out of a bucket. >> how did that work out? >> he said that it didn't work at all. >> in world war ii, mel joins the army corps of engineers. >> over in europe, one of his jobs was building latrines. >> but after the war, this hoosier is fated for a higher -- or maybe lower -- calling. >> he'd met some gentlemen who were spearfishing in tampa, and he was amazed that they could go down and stay underwater. >> they're scuba diving. mel falls in love with the new sport. he follows his parents to california, where they buy a chicken ranch.

a lot of clucking and feathers, but he's moving closer to his dream. >> he bought a compressor and started filling his own tanks. >> in 1952, a beautiful local girl named deo horton walks in and steps out with mel. >> he taught her how to scuba dive, and they decided that they were gonna open a dive shop. >> together, they lead dive charters to explore shipwrecks off the california coast. >> treasure hunting was really a passion for my father. it was full of romance and adventure. >> soon, mel and deo have a thriving business in redondo beach and three boys -- kane, kim and dirk. >> my mother was trying to get other women to go diving, so she decided she was gonna set the world's record for staying underwater. >> and she did -- 55 hours and 37 minutes. as deo put it, "worst case of dishpan hands in history."

she is pregnant at the time with taffi. were you born with a wet suit? >> i was born with webbed feet. [ both laugh ] >> eyeing bigger fish to fry, mel sells the dive shop and moves his family to the florida coast to become a full-time treasure hunter. he sets his sights on one particular prize. >> he read about a shipwreck, which had 40 tons of gold and silver and copper on board. >> her name is nuestra señora de atocha. in september 1622, the spanish galleon leaves havana, bound for seville. she's loaded with treasure from spain's central and south american colonies -- gold bars, finely worked religious articles, and gold chains that some spanish officials are trying to smuggle home in their baggage. [ thunder crashes ] but a caribbean storm sends the atocha to the bottom.

finding her wreck becomes mel fisher's obsession. every morning, he rousts his crew with a simple statement -- "today is the day." >> and, of course, every day, my father is saying, "today is the day. we're gonna hit it. we're almost there. it'll only take a few more months, and we'll have it all." >> finally, mel's search turns up a couple of musket balls from the atocha, plus some coins, a gold chain, and an anchor, then three silver bars -- 76 pounds each. he's getting warmer. >> but then it would kind of piddle off, and he'd say, "that's all right. we'll find it tomorrow." and the next day, "today is the day." >> mel and deo's son dirk and dirk's wife, angel, pitch in to run the northwind, one of their salvage boats. >> they found nine bronze cannons, and that was major, but there was nothing much around those cannons. >> what are the next five years like? >> mostly just empty holes. digging hundreds of thousands of empty holes. >> mel is out of money, living

on a rundown houseboat. then, in july 1975, a faulty valve on the northwind leads to tragedy. what happened? >> my brother dirk and his wife, angel, and a good friend, rick gage, were killed one night when the boat capsized at sea. >> and that tragedy on the water didn't deter dad from wanting to be on the water? >> i think if there was one time ever that my parents considered not continuing, that was it. >> tell me about your brother dirk. >> we were all very depressed about it, but we decided that dirk would want us to continue. and, so, it actually increased our determination. we were gonna find it for dirk. >> so mel returns to the trail of scattered pieces of the atocha's cargo, knowing each

tiny find is a data point that inches him closer to the wreck site. >> we'd find a nail, maybe, a ballast stone, just little teases. >> "teases" that tell mel he must be closing in. others sense it, too, including the government, which wants a cut. in 1977, the federal government and the state of florida claim they own everything salvaged from the atocha. mel fights back. >> he found a lawyer who was in admiralty law, and they arrested a piece of the shipwreck and put it in my father's custody. >> "arresting the wreck" is the legal action a marine-salvage operator files when he's found an abandoned shipwreck. the law wants to create an incentive for people like mel to find valuables lost at sea. that's just the start of his battle with the government. it takes seven years, 151 trials and hearings, $1.2 million in

legal fees, and a trip to the u.s. supreme court. but, finally, mel fisher prevails. no one else can own it. >> nope. it's ours. >> no wonder you're smiling all the time. >> [ laughs ] >> after he beat the government in court, he said, "america has one of the best governments in the world, because a little guy like me can fight and win." >> mel fisher may own the atocha, but the main cargo hold is still out there somewhere. then, on july 20, 1985, after almost 17 years of scouring the sea, the radio at mel's key west office crackles to life. it's his son kane. >> my brother called in and said, "you know, get dad on the radio. i got some important news to tell him." >> what was the news? >> the news was that we had found the main pile of the atocha. it was an 80-foot-long pile of

silver bars and coin chests and jewelry. it was just there sticking up out of the mud. >> is today the day? find out next. >> but first, our "strange inheritance" quiz question. how many sunken spanish treasure ships lie undiscovered off the florida coast? the answer when we return.

>> the answer is "b." the 40 to 50 wrecks likely contain billions of dollars in precious metal and jewels. >> july 20, 1985. yes, this really is the day for mel fisher. after almost 17 years of searching, the treasure hunter finally discovers the main cargo hold of the atocha, a spanish galleon that sank off key west in 1622. >> 55 five feet down from us, there was this big pile of silver bars about 80 feet long, and then money chains, gold chains, about 6 pounds of emeralds. >> 6 pounds of emeralds. he's lived nearly two decades on the financial edge, been written off as a kook and a charlatan, and rededicated himself to his goal after losing a son and

daughter-in-law to the sea. but now mel fisher has accomplished his mission. >> the value of what we found, at that time, was about $400 million. >> there were so many people who were doubters, but at this point, every magazine in the world came and wanted dad on the cover. >> mel even gets on "the tonight show" and impresses johnny carson with his favorite treasure -- a 6-foot-long gold chain, which he likes to wear around key west and show to kids. >> do you have a favorite piece so far? >> yeah, my favorite piece is a poison cup. it's a solid-gold cup and it has very beautiful engraving. and in the bottom of the cup is a mount for a stone. and if anything with poison was poured in the cup, the stone would change colors. >> is that what you like about it? the story? >> well, that, plus i found it myself. [ laughs ] >> mel's daughter, taffi, oversees archiving the artifacts his divers bring up. so, the fine jewelry, obviously,

is right up my alley. this rosary is unbelievable. >> yes, this a gold rosary with ebony inlay. >> oh! mel salvaged thousands of spanish coins like this one. >> the cross represented the ten commandments. you know the ten commandments, don't you? >> yes. >> well, if you never broke any, i'll let you have that. [ both laugh ] >> mel shares a big chunk of the treasure with his crew. how much is a secret. but suffice it to say there were a bunch of new millionaires in key west. >> did your folks' and your life change? did they live bigger? what'd they do? >> well, a little bit. it was nice not to have to worry about money anymore. but, you know, they stayed in the same house. after the atocha, it became more like a hobby, 'cause he didn't have to work anymore. but he loved it. he loves the search and the thrill of finding it. >> my father said, "taffi, remember, we're only temporary custodians of all of this treasure.

hundreds of years ago, it all belonged to someone else, and then it was lost. and then we found it, and we've been custodians for a while. and hundreds of years from now, someone else will have it." >> words of a man who relishes the hunt for treasure more than possessing it. in 1994, mel fisher begins a battle with lymphatic cancer. he continues to search for treasure almost to his last days. he dies at age 76, in 1998. what was it like when dad passed? >> we had a big celebration of his life. we took his ashes out and put them over the atocha site on father's day the following year. >> in 2009, mel's widow, deo, passes away, too, leaving the treasure of the atocha to her children. what is like to inherit something that was underwater for 400 years? that's pretty strange. >> yeah, it's a very strange inheritance and very exciting at

the same time. >> exciting, in part, because before deo dies, she tells her children it's time to begin selling off the atocha treasure. >> selling once. selling twice. >> that's next. >> here's another quiz question for you. according to legend, a 17th century ghost ship called the flying dutchman is cursed in which way? the answer when we return. i accept i don't conquer the mountain like i used to. i even accept i have a higher risk of stroke due to afib, a type of irregular heartbeat not caused by a heart valve problem. but whatever trail i take, i go for my best. so if there's something better than warfarin, i'll go for that too.

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across multiple locations. every corporate office, warehouse and store near or far covered. leaving every competitor, threat and challenge outmaneuvered. comcast business outmaneuver. >> the answer is "a." for hundreds of years, sailors reported seeing the phantom ship

aimlessly wandering the seas. >> for almost two decades, as he searched for the atocha, mel fisher confronted doubt, suspicion, financial risk, and personal tragedy, yet he never gave up. when he dies, in 1998, his heirs inherit the full-time job of running the salvage business and managing the fortune in treasure he left them. and in august 2015, in new york city, they're in the midst of a major piece of business -- auctioning off a big chunk of the gold, silver, and jewels from the atocha. >> these objects have an intrinsic value, but it goes way beyond that because of the history of how they were discovered. >> arlan ettinger, the founder of guernsey's auction house, has sold everything from soviet art to jerry garcia's guitar. >> we'll begin tonight with lot number 1, the three silver coins.

and $2,000 for them. >> mel fisher's daughter, taffi, has spent months preparing for this day. >> it's exciting and a little nerve-racking. >> part of the proceeds will be donated to a foundation taffi and her husband established in memory of their 12-year-old son, michael, who died in 2006 of sudden cardiac arrest. >> lot number 11. fair warning at $750. >> so, we're just hoping that it's appreciated and loved and people bid high. >> the fisher family decides this auction will have no reserve, or minimum bid, for most of the objects. >> lot number 83, the silver coin. $950. $1,000 is bid. $1,100. $1,100 is bid. $1,200. $3,500. and now $3,750. any more beyond -- >> yes. >> $3,750. sold here for $3,750. >> the smuggler's silver coin. $18,000 is the bid. $19,000 is bid. and now $20,000. fair warning at $30,000.

last chance. $30,000 for bidder number 607. >> and what about mel's favorite? the gold chain he wore on "the tonight show" just after discovering the mother lode. >> selling once. selling twice. sold to the telephone for $60,000. okay, lot number 51, the gold bar. $55,000 is bid. and now $60,000. >> you marvel at their brilliance. how is it possible that these were under the water, in turbulent conditions, for 400 years and look like they were crafted yesterday? >> $60,000. $65,000. $70,000. and $75,000 next. >> yes! >> $75,000. sold for $75,000. a fabulous emerald cross. $85,000 is bid. and now $90,000. $90,000 is bid. and now $95,000. sold for $95,000. now lot number 53, the gold

disk. $60,000 is bid. and now $65,000. $80,000. and now $85,000. and $90,000 is bid. and now $95,000 on the phone. selling once. selling twice. sold for $110,000. the gold chalice. $350,000. and $375,000 next. sold here for $350,000. aggregate >> some buyers get bargains, but the final tally of just over $2 million is a tidy sum for both the fisher family and taffi's foundation. >> some of the bids were very high. some of the bids were very low. but, you know, everything sold, so i don't have to carry anything home. maybe can save some lives. and maybe we'll just go out and find a whole bunch of more treasure. >> a whole bunch more treasure, because wait till you hear how much atocha booty remains beneath the sea. excuse me? that's next.

what's your "strange inheritance" story? we'd love to tell it. send me an e-mail or go to our website, strangeinheritance.com.

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>> now back to "strange inheritance." >> their auction has just raked in more than $2 million, but mel fisher's heirs are not done searching for treasure. you see, they not only inherited the fortune that's already been salvaged from the atocha, but the rights to anything else from the wreck site. how much is left down there? >> 250 million. >> what? >> dollars worth of treasure. >> excuse me? >> $250 million worth of treasure. >> mel used to say, "today's the day." his kids predict there will be more "days" ahead. >> i saw the sunset last night, and there was a green flash. that means we're gonna find a big pile today.

we'll find the stern-castle of the atocha that's been so elusive very soon, maybe tomorrow. >> okay. >> have you ever had a real job? >> you mean besides treasure hunting? no. >> the fisher family spreads their love of treasure hunting around. several times a year, they run cruises to the site of the atocha. it's a chance for even non-divers to search for treasure without getting their feet wet. >> today's the day. >> using a system called an airlift, divers suck up sediment from the ocean floor right into these troughs on deck. >> when you see a green emerald with that white sediment, you can't miss it. >> well, i was digging through the sand. a green emerald popped right out at me. i couldn't believe it. >> great start for the day. >> is it true that there's a 40-pound bag of emeralds down there?

and are you looking for it? >> actually, it's 70 pounds of emeralds. >> should i tell you green's my favorite color? [ thunder crashes ] four centuries ago, nature intervened, and the treasure of nuestra señora de atocha never arrived at its original destination, but through the labors of one dedicated -- and slightly obsessive -- man, it was not lost forever. now it will be scattered across the world -- to collectors, museums, and churches. after that, who knows? as mel fisher said, nobody holds on to this treasure for long. mel fisher's heirs clearly inherited their father's undying fascination with shipwrecks. taffi told me, "once you've seen the ocean paved with gold, it's hard to quit." or, as mel used to say, "it's not the find. it's the hunt." and, kim, if you do come up across that big old bag of emeralds, please give your pal, jamie colby, a call.

i'm jamie colby for "strange inheritance." and, remember, you can't take it with you. >> a hard-charging real estate mogul who's ahead of his time... >> edmund was a real visionary. >> ...meets a cutting-edge furniture designer. >> there was a lot of synergy when the two of them came together. >> he fills one home with ultra-modern pieces. then another and another. >> they jumped on it. they puked on it, they came in from the swimming pool and sat on it. >> when he's gone, his heirs are in for the surprise of a lifetime. >> and it rachets up, and it rachets up. i'm sitting there next to my son, slapping his leg, going, "matthew! matthew! matthew!" [ door creaks ] [ wind howls ] [ thunder rumbles ] [ bird caws ] ♪

>> i'm jamie colby, and today i'm in tucson, arizona, to meet the family of a man who spent his entire life building beautiful homes, and it led him to amass a collection of what some would say was less-than-functional furniture but others insist were works of art. >> my name is diane bennett. i was married to edmund bennett for 30 years. he left us an inheritance that had collectors around the world buzzing. >> hi, diane. >> hi, jamie. >> diane was ed's third wife. this is the last of eight homes they shared until his death in 2013. oh, my. >> this is a history of 33 years of a blended family, ed's children, my children, ed, and me. >> diane, tell me about edmund. >> well, he was a very complex man. he was very pragmatic

but a real romantic. ♪ >> born in washington, dc, in 1920, bennett serves in both world war ii and korea. by 1953, he's ready for peacetime and takes a job at the state department. he and his first wife, wilda, are making their own contribution to the baby boom. he buys two lots in washington, with plans to build a home on one and sell the other. >> as soon as he would start to build one, someone would offer him enough money that would inspire him to sell it. >> so he bought two more lots and built two more houses, and the same thing happened. actually, it was five houses before the family got to move into a larger house. >> suddenly, bureaucrat edmund bennett has a new career as a real estate developer. in 1962, he lands his first big project -- carderock springs, maryland, a 300-acre upscale subdivision.

>> he was an artist, and he was very aware and wanting to preserve the natural habitat, making each neighborhood unique. >> bennett demands complete control of the project. buyers are subject to strict rules -- no metal fences, no outdoor clothes lines. you don't like it? don't buy the house. >> he had a vision always of what he wanted. it was difficult sometimes for him to understand that those in his immediate circle might have their own vision. >> what's it like to live with a man like that? >> not calm. when there were differences, we had to learn how to negotiate those differences, and sometimes it was at the top of our lungs. >> to furnish his model at carderock, bennett wants something that has a wow factor yet matches his own naturalistic design philosophy.

his search leads him to the studio of an idiosyncratic woodworker named george nakashima. >> nakashima was known for taking naturally felled wood and creating inherently individual works for that specific piece of wood. >> nakashima's story oddly parallels bennett's. born in washington state, he earns an architecture degree from mit. in 1942, just as ed bennett is being inducted into the army, nakashima, his wife, and young daughter are among more than 110,000 japanese americans forcibly interned in war relocation camps. it's a dismal experience, but he meets a master woodworker who teaches him to craft simple but beautiful furniture using traditional japanese hand tools. after the war, nakashima builds

a workshop in new hope, pennsylvania, where he uses these centuries-old techniques to create modern masterpieces. "every tree," he says, "has its destiny." >> we're allowing the wood to speak for itself. i am trying to reveal the beauty that is in the wood. and part of that is this beautiful natural edge, which is a real characteristic of nakashima work. >> to better understand this zen modernism, i turn to ben mcnitt of tucson, one of legions of contemporary craftsmen deeply influenced by nakashima. i'd love to help you make this table. >> well, to get started, what i'd like you to do is take this chisel, and in very light little taps... >> i can see what it means to give a tree, in nakashima's words, a second life through this technique. look, i'm doing a good job, i think. >> you're doing a very good job. >> i also see why edmund bennett is dazzled when he first steps into nakashima's studio in 1963.

soon, george's workshop is humming with furniture for the carderock model. dozens of pieces, including lounge chairs, benches, and headboards. bennett commissions some items, like this lamp, for as little as $110. >> it quickly became a marriage made in heaven. they recognized in each other a tremendous appreciation for design. >> that marriage is memorialized in extensive correspondence between the two men about the carderock project. and nakashima personally checks out the installations, including this $350 wall case, when he visits the development. >> it was a bonus for mr. nakashima because it was a showplace for his furniture, as well as being a bonus for ed in terms of having people come see the community. >> and when the carderock model opens, it's clear that the

design vision shared by bennett and nakashima is a winner. >> that first weekend, that generated over a thousand visits through the model home. so it was a huge success. >> before long, bennett sells out to american cyanamid and pursues other opportunities in real estate and banking. but he hangs on to his friend george's quirky furniture. for the next 40 years, he fills every one of his homes with it. elizabeth, your dad let you play on the furniture. did you let your kids play as well? >> they played on it. they jumped on it. they puked on it. they came in from the swimming pool and sat on it. >> that's before they knew what it was worth. nakashima achieves superstar status in 1973 when new york governor nelson rockefeller commissions 200 pieces like these for his mansion in westchester. nakashima's reputation keeps growing even after his death in

1990. in 2014, a half century after ed bennett's first visit, nakashima's workshop is designated a national landmark. the developer and the woodworker -- two men ahead of their time. >> the george nakashima couch -- $4,500 on the internet now. >> just how far ahead? ed bennett's family is about to find out. >> lot number 245 is one of the lots from the bennett family. >> that's next. >> but first, our "strange inheritance" quiz question. the answer in a moment.

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>> so, what piece of furniture sold at auction in 2004 for a record $36.7 million? the answer is "a," the so-called badminton chest, commissioned by the 3rd duke of beaufort in 1726. it was made of ebony and encrusted with amethyst, quartz, and other jewels. >> for half a century, real estate developer ed bennett fills his homes with quirky furniture from master craftsman george nakashima. elizabeth soto and bruce bennett, two of bennett's four children, grew up surrounded by the stuff.

the tables and chairs, the bench in the hall, all crafted by nakashima. but one piece in particular embodies the close bond shared by both edmund and diane's children. >> my favorite piece by far was the dining room table. we would gather around this table, and it turned out that we blended quite well. >> a black walnut tree given that second life by nakashima. bennett cherishes it for the rest of his. >> well, the dining room table was the center of the family. i look at it -- there was four generations of our family that sat at that table. it just seemed like if there was another person, somehow, another chair fit there. >> in march of 2013, the family gathers around it for a meal. edmund is 93 and seriously ill. >> he was sitting up at the head of the table where he always

sits. >> we didn't know for sure that it was going to be his last one, but it was his last one. >> two weeks later, edmund bennett dies. so kind of you to share. his will provides generously for diane. however, he leaves his large nakashima collection to his four biological children. ♪ what ed's children don't inherit is his almost obsessive love for it. >> we all talked first -- "does anybody wanna keep any of these pieces?" >> some of it was pretty big. it was a pretty easy decision because the process of downsizing warranted that we weren't all gonna be able to keep the furniture. >> they decide to sell. but how? where? and for how much? that's when pam hardie, an ex-girlfriend of bruce's and often one of those extra chairs at the nakashima table, offers to help. >> i'm a huge antiques fan, and

i'm a huge bennett fan, so it was a match made. >> she's always been just a tremendous family friend and has always stayed close to the family. >> pam, a director in a marketing firm, first wants to get an estimate for the value of the collection. she takes this lamp to a professional for an appraisal. >> i get on the phone, and i called elizabeth. >> she called me. >> i could hardly breathe and said, "you've got to sit down." >> she goes, "liddy! liddy! liddy! do you know how much this lamp is worth?" and i went, "no, pam. tell me!" and she said, "$10,000!" >> and there was a thud on the other end of the phone. [ laughs ] >> if a single lamp is worth $10,000, the bennett heirs must be sitting on a small fortune. the excitement just built from there. >> $20,000, the bid now. any advance over $20,000? $22,500... >> that's next on "strange inheritance." >> here's another quiz question for you.

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>> so, where does the most expensive furniture wood come from? the answer is "c," southeast asia, where a single pound of agarwood can cost more than $13,000. >> so many memories. >> there are. sometimes i just come and stand here and reminisce. >> in 2013, when ed bennett dies, his four children inherit more than 60 pieces of furniture by master designer george nakashima. all sorts of stuff -- lamps, a rocking chair, and a dining room

set beloved by four generations of the family. it's been half a century since edmund bennett first walked into george nakashima's workshop and nakashima installed his work in bennett's model home. since then, nakashima -- who died in 1990 -- has become one of the most iconic and collectible american designers. still, bennett's heirs are not interested in keeping their strange inheritance, so they decide to sell the collection through a los angeles company, la modern auctions. a perfect excuse for me to pay a visit to the auction house owner, peter loughery. peter? >> hi. >> hi. how are you? i'm jamie. >> good! welcome. >> ah! and there's a nakashima. >> yeah, this is one our favorite pieces. it's a round table in a round space. >> turns out peter has studied and collected nakashima furniture for almost 30 years.

>> i think the first nakashima piece i bought, i may have been 18 or 19 years old. it was still considered used furniture. >> once loughery sets the auction date, the family ships the bennett collection to la. did you have a reaction when you saw the furniture being packed up and taken out? >> we had our last family dinner, and we sat around the table, and we talked about edmund. we all held hands, and we said a prayer of thanksgiving for the table and for edmund, and hoped that the next family that had the table have the pleasures that we had with it. ♪ >> as the big day approaches, diane bennett and three of ed's children fly to la. elizabeth brings her two children, and, of course, pam hardie is there, too. >> i wouldn't have missed being at that auction for the world.

>> we all said we were going to sit on our hands in case we accidentally buy a piece back that we don't want. [ laughs ] >> take me inside the auction room that day. >> nervous, everybody was nervous. >> lot number 245 is one of the lots from the bennett family, >> i take out my phone. i start filming. >> the first nakashima piece is that wall case bennett bought for his carderock model home in 1963. loughery estimates it's now worth between $20,000 and $30,000 -- many times what ed bennett paid for it. could it really go for that much? >> $20,000, back of the room. >> i was floored. >> we just were speechless. >> all through? >> that's next.

>> now back to "strange inheritance." >> february 23, 2014. >> one of the lots from the bennett family. >> edmund bennett's family watches with anticipation as the

bidding begins on his collection of zen modern furniture by george nakashima. the first piece up, that wall case from bennett's model home way back when. bidding begins at the low estimate -- $20,000. >> and it ratchets up. and it ratchets up. and another phone bid comes in. and an online bid comes in. peter would say... >> all done, all through? >> and then somebody picked it up again. >> i'm sitting there next to my son, slapping his leg, going, "matthew! matthew! matthew!" >> the next thing you know, it is far above the high estimate. >> all done, all through? >> pam and i are like this. [ laughs ] >> sold! >> the hammer price was actually

$52,500. that was crazy. >> it's almost twice the high estimate and 150 times what bennett paid for it back in the 1960s. >> the george nakashima couch, $4,500 on the internet now. >> that first piece sets off a bidding frenzy. >> sold. this is the conoid headboard from the bennett family commissions. >> conoid bench -- $32,500. sliding-door cabinet -- $16,000. "q" bench... >> sold it. >> 14,000. pam's lamp, the one she had appraised, goes to the la county museum of art... >> sold it! >> ...for $12,000. and that dining room table with 12 chairs, the one around which ed and diane's sons and daughters, grandchildren and friends shared so much joy... >> any more?

sold. >> ...they sell for a total of $90,000, more than anything else in the collection. >> my daughter had like a little mini breakdown. >> george nakashima couch, the george nakashima lounge chairs, george nakashima table lamp. >> to her, it was like, "you're selling grandpa." >> $3,750. $4,000 is bid. $4,500 i have. fair warning... >> once she talked through it with me... >> sold. $7,000. >> ...she realizes it was a very good thing. >> yeah, it's bittersweet. i mean, he meant a lot to me. and he was a self-made guy. you know, he came from that greatest generation. >> the auction yields almost $400,000, a new standard of value for the works of george nakashima. i guess ed bennett knew what he was doing, lugging all that furniture from one house to the next. the bennett family's strange inheritance -- born in the forests of pennsylvania, given a

second life by the hands of a master craftsman, then witness to decades of happy family life -- is shipped off to collectors around the world, treasured now as high art. george nakashima was right -- each tree does have its own destiny. and one tree's destiny will be to rock to sleep another generation of bennetts. it's the one thing ed's daughter keeps for herself. >> my dad had a rocking chair here that i really liked, with a free-form arm, so that was the piece that i decided to keep. i was thinking in the back of my mind, "oh, someday somebody will rock a child in this rocking chair." >> diane bennett has now furnished her house with other great american mid-century designers. the nakashima furniture is gone, and edmund is gone. what is that like for you every day? >> i miss edmund terribly.

i go by a saying that's important to me, which is "do not mourn that which you've lost. rejoice instead that you had it." we had a wonderful life together. >> edmund bennett not only insisted his home be filled with nakashima furniture -- he also had very definite ideas about what would or wouldn't work on the walls, right up till the very end. weeks before he died, he saw diane hanging some things on the wall, and he looked chagrined. he turned to one of his kids, and he said, "i'm very worried about diane and all of her european art." well, ed's gone. the european art has stayed. he's still resting in peace, diane says. i'm jamie colby for "strange inheritance." and remember -- you can't take it with you. do you have a "strange inheritance" story you'd like to share with us?

we'd love to hear it! send me an e-mail or go to our website, strangeinheritance.com. >> he was at the center of a scandal -- the national pastime, gambling, and gangsters. >> arnold rothstein gave them a little bit of money to, supposedly, throw the series. >> "shoeless" joe was arguably the best baseball player of all time. >> he's banned from the game... >> one weeping fan of his cried out, "say it isn't so!" >> ...and the fascination with his tale endures. >> shoeless joe's really part of pop culture. >> so why is his autograph one of the rarest in sports? >> he was virtually illiterate. >> he had a very hard time even writing an individual letter. >> he did. >> as far as we know it, there is only one known. >> one? >> just one. >> and it's this woman's strange inheritance. >> it started to dawn on me that this is a lot of money we're talking about.

>> this is a biggie -- 1911 "shoeless" joe jackson signed photograph. [ door creaks ] [ wind howls ] [ thunder rumbles ] [ bird caws ] >> hi. i'm jamie colby, and i'm heading along the shores of lake erie in cleveland, ohio. today i'm meeting a woman who inherited a rare item that recalls the most notorious episode in baseball history -- an episode that's inspired books and movies and retains an air of mystery to this day. >> my name is sharon bowen. after my husband, bill, passed away, i started to receive lots of phone calls about a scrapbook that he had kept in a trunk in our bedroom. i knew very little about "shoeless" joe jackson, but now i do. >> bill and sharon bowen raise two children in a cleveland suburb. how long were you married? >> we were married 39 years. >> bill, a professional fundraiser, works for local

universities and the salvation army. he's a native clevelander and a baseball nut. >> this is bill, probably around 5 or 6. >> bill started collecting at a very early age. >> and never stops. card collecting becomes a family affair. >> did you do any collecting with him? >> that was my thing with him and with his father -- every saturday, going to baseball-card shows, just sitting around the kitchen table and looking at all the cards. >> through work, bill becomes friends with a retired professor who shares his passion for collecting. >> and one day, the -- the gentleman's wife said to him, "i have a book i bet you would love to see." >> boy, does he! this simple paper scrapbook holds a treasure trove of photographs from the 1911 spring training camp of the cleveland naps, now called the indians. >> she inherited this book from her father, and her father received it as a gift from his friend frank smith.

>> frank smith was a photographer for the cleveland plain dealer. that spring, he takes action shots of established stars like nap lajoie, christy mathewson, and a cleveland rookie named joseph jefferson jackson. >> hi, joe. >> good to see you. >> so great to see you. to learn more about that rookie, i pay a visit to baseball memorabilia maven joe orlando. when the names of greats come up, is shoeless joe still in that category? >> babe ruth, who most people consider to be the greatest player who ever lived, patterned his own swing after joe jackson's. >> safe! >> if that doesn't tell you what type of a hitter joe jackson was, i don't know what -- what will. >> joe jackson is born in pickens county, south carolina, in 1887. what kind of family did he come from? >> well, he came from humble beginnings. he worked at a textile mill as a teenager, as a mill hand, and he

was virtually illiterate for the remainder of his life. >> but on the diamond, he's a true phenom. at the age of 13, he stars on the cotton mill's team and picks up a lifelong nickname. >> legend has it that while he was a teenager playing in a mill game, his cleats were bothering him so much that he took his cleats off and played the rest of the game without shoes, and one of the fans started to heckle him and call him a shoeless son of a gun. >> "shoeless" joe's career takes off like a blue-streak line drive. in 1908, he bats .346 for a minor league team in greenville. in 1911, he's ready to move up. >> it was his first full season in the majors with the cleveland naps. >> and photog frank smith documents his arrival in "the bigs." [ cheers and applause ] >> he batted .408, which still stands as a record for a rookie. [ bat cracking ]

>> safe! >> he may be a whiz on the field, but traveling with his teammates, joe can't even read a menu. >> if they were in a restaurant, he'd listen to what everyone else ordered and simply base his order off of that. >> he needs help just writing his own name, so he rarely signs anything but legal documents. of course, you don't need to read or write to hit a fastball. in 1915, joe moves up another notch when he's traded to the chicago white sox. >> chicago was a very good team, and he helped them win a world series in the 1917 season. >> they may have been good, but they were not happy. >> charles comiskey, who was the owner of the white sox at the time, was known as being extremely frugal. >> in 1919, the sox again capture the american league pennant and are favored to beat the cincinnati reds in the world series. but many players feel comiskey is cheating them of their bonuses. the friction creates an opportunity for a new york

gangster named arnold rothstein, who runs a sports-betting racket. >> arnold rothstein got to some of the players of the chicago white sox and gave them a little bit of money under the table to supposedly throw the series. >> when the sox lose the series 5 games to 3, rothstein makes a bundle. the "black sox" scandal erupts. a grand jury indicts shoeless joe and seven other players for conspiracy. >> several of those teammates confessed that they were part of fixing the series and implicated joe jackson. >> testimony of pitcher edward cicotte is said to have been most incriminating evidence. >> prompted by comiskey's lawyer, jackson admits taking $5,000 from teammate lefty williams, but he denies throwing the series. outside the courtroom, a young sox fan supposedly confronts his hero. "say it ain't so, joe!" he says.

but was it so? why would a player like shoeless joe throw a game, a world series game? >> well, the reality is that you and i will never know, with 100% certainty, the truth. joe jackson was virtually illiterate, so when he was confessing, did he comprehend what he was doing? >> based on the stats, it didn't look like joe jackson had anything to do with the plot. he batted .375, hit a home run, and had 6 rbis. >> although a jury acquits all eight "black sox" players, baseball commissioner judge kenesaw mountain landis bans them from the game. shoeless joe takes his trophies home and never again sets foot on a big league diamond. he lives in relative obscurity in south carolina until his death in 1951. since then, few baseball stories have captured the imagination more than shoeless joe's.

being here at the baseball field, it's the perfect place to ask you about him as a legend. >> we have movies such as "field of dreams," "eight men out," that continue to bring shoeless joe in front of new fans, new moviegoers. >> and that legend is what drives cleveland baseball collector bill bowen to covet the book of frank smith photos, which his friend showed him in 2006. take me back to the moment he first told you he wanted to buy the scrapbook. >> he came home and said, "you know, i'm gonna buy this book." >> the price -- $15,000. the missus is not amused. >> i said, "absolutely not. who would spend that kind of money for a paper scrapbook filled with old pictures?" >> your husband the baseball nut, that's who! and that's next. >> but first, our... two of these actors played "shoeless" joe jackson in

hollywood movies. which one didn't? the answer in a moment. it's easy to think that all money managers are pretty much the same. but while some push high commission investment products, fisher investments avoids them. some advisers have hidden and layered fees. fisher investments never does. and while some advisers are happy to earn commissions from you whether you do well or not, fisher investments fees are structured so we do better when you do better. maybe that's why most of our clients come from other money managers. fisher investments. clearly better money management.

>> so, which actor didn't play shoeless joe? the answer is... liotta played him in "field of dreams," sweeney in "eight men out," but redford's character in "the natural" was only based on shoeless joe.

>> in early 2010, baseball fanatic bill bowen tries to convince his wife to let him buy this 100-year-old scrapbook of vintage baseball players. in it is an autographed picture of the legendary "shoeless" joe jackson. the asking price -- $15,000. >> and that's when i said, "no, absolutely not." >> bill buys it anyway, selling some of his other memorabilia to raise the cash. where did you keep it? >> it was just sitting in a trunk in our bedroom, handy, so he could pull it out and look at it and show it to people when they came. >> and sharon decides to stop giving her husband a hard time about it. really? you were that easy about it? >> i was easy, because life's too short, and -- and it proved to be true. >> in 2014, bill has a heart attack... and dies at the age of 67.

shortly after his death, baseball collectors begin calling his widow. >> we started to get some phone calls from people. did we still have the book? would we consider selling it? >> a family friend suggests they talk to heritage auctions in dallas. >> so my daughter took some pictures of the book... [ camera shutter clicking ] ...and e-mailed it to heritage, and they e-mailed her back in four minutes. >> four -- within four minutes, you heard from an auction house? >> mm-hmm. >> chris ivy specializes in baseball memorabilia. >> when something like this comes in, it's incredibly special. >> three days later, a heritage representative flies up from dallas. >> he starts flipping through it and says, "you didn't tell me that this guy was in here. you didn't tell me you had this autograph." >> but the real money shot is that autographed picture of shoeless joe. the bowen family sends the book to the auction house. chris ivy believes the autographed joe jackson picture

is one of a kind. but before it goes on the auction block, he has to make sure it's genuine. >> we don't sell any autographs without third-party authentication. so, obviously, that's a nerve-wracking prospect. >> and the authenticators have their doubts. how likely was it that it was legitimately signed by joe jackson? >> in my head, i'm thinking, "i'm sure you also have a bigfoot/loch ness monster dual-signed baseball coming behind that, as well." >> here's another quiz question for you. the answer in a moment.

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>> ...which curved in to right-handers. it helped mathewson rack up a record 373 career wins. >> there's nothing like a day at the park -- our own field of dreams. >> that's right. >> to determine whether sharon bowen's strange inheritance -- this autographed picture of "shoeless" joe jackson -- is real, the auction house calls joe orlando, president of professional sports authenticator, in orange county, california. he's also a baseball nut. >> legend has it that shoeless joe could throw a ball 400 feet, so what you're looking at is probably a ball that would actually sail far over that scoreboard beyond the center-field fence. >> that's awesome. joe's job is to give buyers and auction houses an informed opinion on the legitimacy of sports memorabilia. >> it's our job to be skeptical about everything. >> how elaborate is the process

to authenticate something of this magnitude? >> well, that's where we're gonna head over to our offices and really give you an in-depth look at the process itself. >> it falls to psa's steve grad to determine whether the joe jackson signed photo is legit. steve, thank you so much for letting me come in. i am the most excited about this authentication part. for yet another baseball nut, it's the chance of a lifetime. >> there isn't a joe jackson photograph that i know of that's actually signed, and they're telling me it's got great provenance, great story. but i want to see that autograph first. >> steve has reason to be skeptical, and not just because jackson couldn't read or write. collecting autographs from ballplayers didn't become a fad until well after shoeless joe's career. signed photos from his era are very rare. confirming that the photo was actually printed in 1911 is psa's first challenge. what about the photograph itself? did you have any concern about

the paper? >> we have a photo expert, henry yee, and henry's really good with paper and photographs. he confirmed that, "well, this was used for a short period of time, but right during that period." he knew immediately. >> okay, the picture is legit, but how about that signature? >> so, this is joe jackson's last contract. this is 1920. >> remember, nobody has seen another autographed shoeless joe picture. but steve can compare the writing to various legal documents that the illiterate jackson did sign. >> through the years i've been able see a handful of joe jackson signatures we've deemed authentic, and i'm able to look at certain tendencies joe jackson has. so, that autograph has to talk to me. if you want to go ahead and put it in... >> we put a copy of the signed photo into this contraption, called a video spectral comparator. >> you'll see things you can't see with the naked eye... >> let's see. >> ...you could see with this. and here we go. i'm gonna drop the magnification to 8. >> it's very "csi." >> and we start to look at the formations here of the letters. you can see where he's really --

he labored. >> he had a very hard time even writing an individual letter. >> he did. >> how do you distinguish the signature that we look at and the real deal? >> so, we take the photo back, and we take a look at the signature itself, okay? what's fascinating to me -- we're talking 1911, 1920. 9 years later. look how he comes up here to the "e," okay? and we're starting to see the same thing here again. >> a straight line from the "o" to the "e" in "joe." >> 1911 to 1920 -- you take a look, it's literally the same thing. >> with what percentage are you certain you have an authentic joe jackson signed photograph? >> 100%. i had, like, this eureka moment. and i was like, "bam! there it is! that's joe jackson." >> steve certifies the autographed shoeless joe picture and the entire 60-photo collection is real. >> it's one of the coolest things i've ever handled in my entire life.

>> even better news for the bowen family -- he grades the signature a 9 out of 10 in quality. he also rates the other signatures at either 9 or 10. after more than 100 years, the photos frank smith took at the cleveland naps spring training are about to make their public debut. >> it's also very exciting to reach out to the bowens and -- and let them know that we're gonna be able to sell it on their behalf. >> this is a biggie -- 1911 "shoeless" joe jackson signed photograph... >> yeah, live auction is always a lot of fun. >> beautiful. how 'bout it? >> $30,000. >> $30,000 now. >> it was very exciting. >> have you ever seen a photo like this? >> that's next. what's your strange inheritance story? we'd love to hear it! send me an e-mail or go to our website... liberty mutual stood with me when this guy got a flat tire in the middle of the night, so he got home safe. yeah, my dad says our insurance doesn't have that.

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sharon bowen's family gathers for the auction of her strange inheritance... a 1911 scrapbook of signed photos of baseball greats. the crown jewel of the collection is the only known autographed photo of "shoeless" joe jackson, but the bowens soon learn the rest of the collection is plenty valuable, too. >> lot 53, the 1911 christy mathewson signed photo. have you ever seen a photo like this from mathewson? >> $30,000. >> $30,000. now $36,000. >> the scrapbook is broken into four lots for auction. >> $36,000. now to go to $38,000. >> i said to my children, "dad would have loved this." >> $60,000! >> and will said to me, "except, mom, dad would never have done it because he would have kept that book as long as he was alive." >> now it's a level playing field. >> my dad and i had been to so many sort of auctions like that, but never one of this magnitude. >> there are a few bidders in the room, but most are online and anonymous. >> the christy mathewson photo,

which had some very spirited bidding... >> $2,500 more to you, sir. they're gonna help you pay for it, i guess. >> ...and went well beyond its initial estimate. >> $77,500 once, twice. done! it's yours, $77,500. give him a hand. [ applause ] moving along, this is a biggie. >> next on the auction block, that signed photo of "shoeless" joe jackson, the only one known to exist. >> it was fun and bittersweet, because it meant the story was over for us. this piece of bill was leaving. >> probably read some press about this. absolutely pristine condition. >> it was the pride and joy of bill bowen's lifelong collection. >> let's start the bidding at... >> $110,000. >> $110,000. give me $120,000. >> and at that point, it started to dawn on me that this is a lot of money we're talking about. >> $120,000. now to go to $130,000. >> and i think at some point, my left knee started to buckle, just a little. >> i was very excited for -- for sharon bowen and her family,

as well. it speaks to her husband, bill bowen, that he had a great eye. >> now we got to $150,000. i need a buck and a half. $150,000 for the shoeless joe. $150,000. anyone else? done! $150,000! >> when the auction house commission is added, the joe jackson picture brings in $179,000. in the end, one anonymous bidder buys the whole collection. >> i thought -- you know, it's silly. they're not siblings, but, still, it made me happy that they stayed together. >> the scrapbook that bill bowen bought for $15,000 garners just over $300,000. not a bad return on investment... and a nice chunk of cash for his widow. >> he knew on some level that this would be a legacy to us and it would be security for me in my retirement and enable us to do some things for our children that he would want us to do. >> in a bygone era, an

enterprising photographer shoots a picture of an up-and-coming ballplayer and gets him to autograph it. the player sees stardom, then scandal, obscurity, then immortality, as the photo passes to a daughter, a friend, a co-worker, and, finally, a wife, once skeptical, now profoundly grateful that her husband had the sense, at least this once, not to listen to her. bill's daughter, meredith, told me that she has her own "field of dreams" vision of her father up in the baseball section of heaven, playing catch with "shoeless" joe. joe looks at him and smiles and says, "ain't it crazy? my signature on that old picture just got your wife a whole big pot of money." and just maybe bill is getting "shoeless" joe to explain exactly what happened back in chicago in 1919. i'm jamie colby for

"strange inheritance." thanks so much for watching, and remember -- you can't take it with you. [ bat cracks, crowd cheers ] >> a mysterious death. >> the story of my strange inheritance occurred when they fished my cousin's body out of the gowanus canal. >> a flood of questions. >> you think it's something sinister? >> i do think there's something going on. >> are the answers locked in storage? >> i just shook my head and i go, "oh, my god, this is a nightmare." >> he was, one might say, an idiot savant. nobody has what he had. howie frank had the best. >> he was sitting on a photo collection potentially worth $10 million. >> they dubbed him the "million dollar beggar." is it worth a million dollars? >> don't change that channel. it's a made-for-tv "strange inheritance." >> dy-no-mite! [ door creaks ] [ wind howls ] [ thunder rumbles ]

[ bird caws ] ♪ >> i'm jamie colby, and today i'm in brooklyn, new york, on my way to meet three brothers at a self-storage joint in historic coney island. that's where they found their strange inheritance, left to them by a homeless relative with a big surprise under lock and key. >> my name's seth lerner. our second cousin, howard frank, died mysteriously in 2012. that's when my brothers and i found out that we inherited the contents of his five storage units. we were shocked the first time we rolled up those doors. >> hi, guys. i'm jamie. >> i'm ian. >> good to meet you. >> hi. i'm seth. >> nice to meet you both. you wrote me about a wild story about a cousin and that he left all his belongings here? >> his whole life is here in this storage bin. >> howard rented five of these 10x15-foot units.

>> when we opened up the lockers, we actually found a place where he might have been sleeping. >> wow. >> we didn't really know until we found this place. he never really told us. >> they did not need to be told back in the spring of 2012 that their 55-year-old cousin's life was unraveling. >> he always looked very disheveled. wore the same clothes over and over again, did not bathe. >> didn't bathe? >> did not bathe. was afraid of water. >> the lerner brothers do what they can to help. seth is a successful art director. todd and ian are dentists. >> i felt bad for him, and if there was something i could do, i would, whether it's doing dental work for him, giving him a little money to eat. >> but they don't know that howard, who once had a thriving business, is now begging for money on the streets -- a familiar figure outside several brooklyn synagogues. you seem to have sadness. >> it's sad. you know, the whole thing is

sad. the best way to describe howard is he was a lost soul. >> was he mentally ill? >> i would say there was a certain amount of mental illness, but not anything that was dangerous to other people. >> then seth gets a distressing call from cousin howard. >> it was an odd conversation. he wanted to remind me that he wanted to be buried near his parents, and i said, "howard, you're a young man. why worry about these things?" and he says, "well, i have to worry about them." >> on june 28th, howard frank's body is found floating in brooklyn's gowanus canal. police suspect it's a suicide. do you believe that he committed suicide, seth? >> no, i don't think so. >> you think it's something sinister? >> i can't put my finger on it, but i do think there was some type of cover-up or conspiracy. >> this much is true. it's, as they used to say on television, one of those 8 million stories in the naked city that make great tabloid

copy. i wanted to read you a section that i found curious. "the city medical examiner's office says the cause of death has yet to be determined but did not conduct an autopsy, at the family's request." is that true? >> no, that's not true. we were never contacted by the medical examiner's office. >> there was no autopsy. >> no. >> no. >> who said "no autopsy," then, if it wasn't you? >> somebody from the jewish community came down there and told the medical examiner that howard had no family, no living relatives, that there should be no autopsy. >> howard's death draws media attention -- not only for its mysterious circumstances, but also because of what his cousins find hidden away inside his five storage units in coney island. >> howard frank used to beg for money, even though he was sitting on a photo collection potentially worth $10 million. >> he saved everything.

>> what the hell is that? >> is howard really a millionaire beggar? i take the deep dive into this strange inheritance next. >> but first, our quiz question. the answer after the break. this is what it's all about, jamie -- helping small businesses. damage your vehicle? we got you covered. [ glass shatters ] property damage? that's what general liability's for. what?! -injured employee? -ow. workers' comp helps you pay for a replacement. what's happening? this is carla. how's it going? and if anything comes up, our experts are standing by. ♪ boo!

>> the answer is "b," fort lauderdale. while self-storage facilities date back to ancient china, the first u.s.-based operation, lauderdale storage, opened in 1958. >> todd, ian, and seth lerner inherit the contents of five storage lockers in coney island, new york, from their second cousin howard frank, who dies mysteriously in june 2012. what they find inside has some in the press speculating that howard had locked away a fortune worth anywhere from $1 million to $10 million. >> it's a mystery that's still unfolding -- a collection vast enough that howard frank needed storage space. >> you wrote me to come take a look at it. >> i did, yes. >> well, i'm ready to take a

look. >> great. >> really? open sesame! is this howard frank's version of aladdin's cave? piled to the ceiling -- photographs of classic tv stars, boxes and file cabinets full of them, going back to the 1950s. captain's log! there are hundreds of "star trek" photos. and from "the flying nun," more than 10,000. and "a horse, of course." it's "mr. ed." lucy? >> yeah. he had a fondness for lucy. >> who doesn't? look at these pictures. oh, my goodness. this is iconic stuff. >> yeah. >> "batman"? >> mm-hmm. >> "happy days." >> "happy days." >> these are some of the greatest shows. look how young they are! and now that you've been in the storage lockers, how many are in there? >> it's probably close to 2 million. it's just an incredible amount of media.

>> so how, and why, did their cousin get it all? that's a real brooklyn tale. it begins in 1956, when howard frank is born in bensonhurst, the second of two sons. >> i know there was a lot of family problems. >> what kind of problems? >> i think there's some type of mental instability. it was a very difficult family to be raised in. >> many of us have been there. thank goodness for tv. howard's a fan of hit shows of the era, like "leave it to beaver" and reruns of one of his favorites, the popular western "the lone ranger." in his teens, howard begins writing to tv studios, requesting photos of his favorite stars. his early collection includes these "i love lucy" photos, behind-the-scenes shots from "batman," and autographed pictures of his hero, clayton moore. >> howie lived and breathed

photos. >> fred westbrook, now a hollywood talent agent, met howard frank when they were both teenagers, prowling around photo shows in manhattan in the 1970s. >> he was, one might say, an idiot savant. he was a walking encyclopedia on the history of television. >> the two become fast friends, despite howard's quirks. >> as much as howie loved photos, he hated water. he didn't go swimming -- deathly afraid of water. so that means he didn't shower that much. >> howard is especially close to his father, alex, a disabled accountant confined to a wheelchair who works from home. >> howie and his father were very, very close. and they supported each other. >> with that support, howard takes his photo hobby to the next level. he drops out of middle school and begins selling his prints at flea markets. then, in 1974, howard's dad

injects the capital to expand his son's enterprise. >> he uses $12,000 from an inheritance to buy out a well-known celebrity photo shop in manhattan. why do you think his dad put him into this business? >> from alex's point of view, he probably knew somewhere down the line that he wasn't gonna be around forever, and he wanted to give him a chance. >> i also think it was something that alex and he could do together. >> in the buyout, howard snaps up photos from game shows, including "family feud" and "the dating game" -- also, sitcoms like "the munsters" and "laverne and shirley." >> there was about 200,000 photos and books in that collection, and suddenly, howard was in business. >> at just 18, howard officially launches his own company, called personality photos, and sets up shop inside the family home. >> the pictures were everywhere -- on the bed, under

the bed, turn the oven off, put them in the oven. but, boy, what a treasure trove. >> after howard's mother dies in 1978, father and son become inseparable. who was taking care of who? >> i think it was mutual. howard was basically alex's legs, and alex was the business guy. >> in the days before the internet, newspapers, magazines, and tv stations rely on independent dealers like howard to provide them with photos. and howard builds an impressive client list. >> howie would physically walk to the major publications and meet the editors and say, "hey, i have all these archives." 'cause nobody had what he had. >> picture an editor on deadline who needs a shot of fred gwynne or one of adam west without his batman cowl. fastest way to get it -- call howard, who locates the physical photo in a cabinet, box, that oven, or even in this messy stack next to the sink, then

mails the print, with an invoice of 75 bucks an image. >> we found loads of tv guides that he sold photos to, and we found evidence that he supplied photos for the franklin mint for their plates and things like that, for john wayne, lucille ball, elvis presley. >> did he own them? >> no, he didn't own them, but studios sent out press photos for years and years, and they were handed out for promotion. so he had just as much right to them as anyone else. >> by the early 1990s, howard and his dad are raking in more than $200,000 a year. things are looking good. howard next surprises both friends and family with some big news. >> i get a call from howie, and he says he's gonna get married. i was the best man. i was happy for him and shocked. >> but the honeymoon is short-lived. howard gets divorced less than a year later. then, in 2001, another loss --

howard's father passes away. >> he was the rock that i think kept howard together in terms of having a connection to somebody, and i think it was kind of devastating for him. >> he started to spiral, he started to lose focus. >> at the same time, howard's business becomes one of the many wiped out by the internet. when you need that picture of gary coleman or david hasselhoff fast, why call howie from brooklyn when you can instantly download your choice of shots from an online catalog? for the next several years, howard lives off his savings, but eventually lands on the street, moving his trove of pictures to those five storage units in coney island. >> he loved the pictures so much, he would go without eating. it was his life and made him who he was. >> then in the spring of 2012, howard tells his cousins he fears for his life.

he even makes a fatalistic request, in connection with his favorite show, "the lone ranger." >> somehow, he identified with that character. he told me at the time we make his tombstone, he wanted the word "lone ranger" somehow brought onto that. >> howard's cousins just don't know what to make of his ramblings about an overdue loan, money he says he borrowed from a business associate to cover the rent on his storage lockers. was he paranoid or did he have a legitimate reason to be concerned? >> i think he had a legitimate reason to be concerned. he may have pushed the wrong people. >> whether murder, suicide, or accident, on june 28, 2012, the body of howard frank is found floating in the gowanus canal. >> howard frank was last seen alive the night of june 27th, begging for assistance at one of his usual spots. >> no one in howard's family, including his estranged older brother, is contacted to approve

an autopsy. the d.a. opens an investigation, but with a lack of evidence, soon closes the case. and for years, that's where everything sits, until the heirs call in "strange inheritance." we can tell their story, but can we help? well, turns out i know a guy. what are some of the valuable things that you did stumble across? >> here's another quiz question for you. the answer when we return. alerts -- wouldn't you like one from the market when it might be time to buy or sell? with fidelity's real-time analytics, you'll get clear, actionable alerts about potential investment opportunities in real time.

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>> so, which actress was originally offered elizabeth montgomery's role of samantha stephens in "bewitched"? it's tammy grimes. the two-time tony award winner didn't like the premise of the show and wanted to know why samantha wouldn't use her magical powers to stop wars or untangle l.a. traffic jams. >> after their second cousin howard frank dies a mysterious death in 2012, brothers todd, ian, and seth lerner are the sole heirs to howard's nearly 2 million entertainment photos. media reports speculate the inventory of howard's defunct business could still be worth a fortune. could that be true? auction house executive bobby livingston volunteers to help sort things out. so, this is just one of the lockers you looked at. >> that's right. >> so, did howard know what he was doing? >> i think howard knew what he was doing for his time. he's got every television show.

he was obsessed with getting one of everything. >> so, rummaging through the unit is like a flashback to our childhoods. "good times"! >> these were publicity photos. you would have to get someone like howard to find you a picture of "good times." if people magazine, for instance, was doing an article on "good times," they would call howard. >> and then he would give it to them for a fee. >> that's right. but those days are long gone, and so, unfortunately, the value of these prints have gone down considerably. >> well, one thing that is never gonna be gone -- "dy-no-mite!" i love this guy. oh, my god -- j.j. bobby tells me you could sell these prints on ebay for a few dollars apiece -- and the signed ones, more like 10 bucks. >> it's fantastic, right? neat. >> but bobby does find, among the dime-a-dozen don johnsons, alfs, and mr. t's, some real gems. what do you have? >> well, you know, one of the coolest things i found, which is an original elizabeth montgomery

"bewitched" photo. >> i love elizabeth montgomery. >> well, these are original "bewitched" test shots, and you can see she went through herself and put "kill" on them -- she didn't like it -- and she put a question mark on that one, which was kind of neat. >> "i look like i should be sitting in the dentist chair. kill." well, for elizabeth montgomery, someone that's a big fan of hers, this has value? >> yeah, absolutely. probably these are worth $100, $200 each. >> what if there are more like these filed away in these cabinets? here's my bottom-line question about all this. is it worth a million dollars? that's next. what's your "strange inheritance" story? we'd love to tell it. send me an e-mail or go to our website, strangeinheritance.com.

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it. do you have a plan? >> we pretty much don't know what we're gonna do with it. it's too big for us to do anything with. >> to help them weigh their options, i've invited auction house executive bobby livingston to meet us here at the storage lockers, where he's taken a deep dive into the photo hoard. what kind of condition is it in? >> it's in all kinds of condition. your cousin just didn't really care too much about condition. he cared about quantity. >> so, based on your analysis, do you have good news or not-so-good news? >> well, it's a very difficult thing to be able to give you a value, 'cause i didn't get to go through everything. but i think you could probably look at maybe a couple hundred thousand dollars. [ cash register dings ] >> so, call him the "quarter million dollar beggar." maybe. because, as bobby livingston explains, his estimate can only be realized by scanning, listing, and selling the photos individually. >> well, you have to inventory it because there are some really great things in there, and then

there's a lot of things that aren't so cool. but if you really want to understand its value, that's something you're gonna have to do. >> but think about that. if you spent just two minutes on each image, it would take nearly eight years working around the clock to get through howard's 2 million pictures. so, do you have the time to do these individually? >> no, we don't. >> because you guys have day jobs. >> yes, real jobs. >> and it's costing you a pretty penny to keep them stored up. >> we've probably spent, in storage fees, about $6,000 a year. >> so, what do you think you'll do? >> i think if a person came along and said, "we'll give you a couple hundred thousand dollars for it," i would say, "here. take the whole thing. bye. see ya." >> would it be a relief? >> it would be a big relief. >> what would really ease their minds would be to finally answer the questions they continue to have about howard's death. did it somehow stem from a dispute over those 2 million pictures? they still think so but have

found no proof. and listening to cousin todd talk about his strange inheritance, i can't help but think this is just not the way a made-for-tv story is supposed to end. >> you know, i think when people leave you something, you hope that there's some legacy to it, but in this case, when you have to go through somebody's life and clean it up, it's like somebody leaving you something that you really don't want. >> so, unlike the tv shows that howard frank cherished, where all plot points get resolved before the credits roll, he mostly left his cousins nagging questions, still locked up among 2 million pictures. the lerner brothers recall their cousin's request that when he died, he wanted the name of his favorite tv show, "the lone ranger," inscribed on his gravestone. the brothers plan to honor his wish with a stone that quotes from the show -- "ride on, lone ranger. ride on forever."

i'm jamie colby. thanks for watching "strange inheritance." and remember -- you can't take it with you. (bright music) hi, i'm suze orman. after all these years of working with people and their money, the one thing i've learned about it is this: that every single one of you has what it takes to be the master of your own financial destiny. i'm going to show you how to be more so you can have more. (singers vocalizing) ♪ (producer) stand by. ladies and gentlemen, suze orman! (applause, cheering) ♪ hi, everybody. i'm suze orman. now, if you are watching this show,